For the past decade or more, chiropractic has regularly been a "hot topic" in the media. And as a result, chiropractors have been under scrutiny.
But that only serves to underscore how important it is for our profession to stand up and speak out on behalf of chiropractic. In this recent article, Dr. Anthony Lombardi, DC, advocates for more chiropractors to be brand ambassadors and experts in their own communities to help educate the general public about the benefits of chiropractic.
Whether it's being featured in newspaper or magazine articles, TV commercials or spots, or advertising, these marketing and PR mediums offer invaluable opportunities to combat any negative PR with positive stories of how chiropractic helps patients. For example, in 2011, former Olympian hockey player Sidney Crosby was sidelined with a concussion and looked to chiropractic care to get him back on the ice; his own chiropractor and others were sought out as expert interviewees to discuss the role of chiropractic care. Along the way, said Lombardi, their interviews contributed to the credibility of the profession and the perceived authority of chiropractors everywhere.
It's estimated that mainstream medical communities may pitch a leading TV network an average of 200 stories a week. Unfortunately, chiropractic pitches only come perhaps once or twice a year. The profession needs to become acccustomed to pitching its own evidence and success stories. As it has been said, "If we do not control our message to the public, someone else will control it for us."
Back in 2002, after graduating from chiropractic school I opened my own clinic and started practicing. This was a very tumultuous time for the profession as many medical doctors, researchers and journalists were constantly writing articles in mainstream newspapers and publications that highlighted the dangers of chiropractic neck manipulation.
At that time chiropractic became a “hot” word that was continually under the microscope.
Meanwhile, my newly opened practice started welcoming patients who had read the articles in the newspapers but never knew chiropractors could help with headaches and other ailments. Shortly thereafter, I began to write articles educating the masses about the benefits of chiropractic.
Since then, I have represented chiropractic with great pride over the recent years, through print articles and TV interviews.
This is significant to chiropractors and our profession because being featured in mainstream publications develops us professionally into what is referred to as perceived authority.
This article excerpt, by Dr. Anthony Lombardi, DC, originally appeared here: http://chiroeco.com/chiro-blog/results-to-referrals/2015/06/14/how-to-spread-the-chiropractic-brands-message/
